Cortonesi ‘La Mannella’ Brunello di Montalcino

Tommaso Cortonesi’s grandfather bought La Mannella in the 1970s. The estate spreads over 56 hectares, eight of which produce Brunello di Montalcino. The major vineyard is around the winery at La Mannella, just north of Montalcino itself, but there is another vineyard near Castelnuovo dell’ Abate, to the south east of the town. Originally just one Brunello was made, a blend from the two separate vineyards, but in the 1990s, Tommaso and his father realised that the two vineyards had
distinctly different soil composition. They decided that better wine would be made if each terroir was properly realised in the bottle, and thus were born Poggiarelli (in the south east) and La Mannella (in the north).

This wine is from the La Mannella vineyard, which is mainly clay and limestone at an altitude of 280-350 m. The oldest vines were planted in 1983, and another two plots were planted in 1998. It is 100% Sangiovese with the final wine spending three years in 30hl Slavonian oak botte. In total about 25,000 bottles are made.

All the wines at this estate have great purity of fruit and are vibrant expressions of their terroir. La Mannella is a supremely silky, seductive Brunello with great length
and delicious mouthfeel. It is a Brunello to enjoy on those occasions when only the very, very best will do!